Feature cell phones and other mobile subscriber devices may rely on telecommunication carrier (telco) cell tower location interpolation to derive location. The locate that is returned is a tuple, consisting of a latitude, longitude, and predicted accuracy of the latitude, longitude with respect to the actual location of the device at the time the location was derived. For some telcos, the average predicted accuracy of the locates is poor, with upwards of 45% having an accuracy worse than being in a radius of 0.2 miles from the actual location of the cell phone. Devices which rely on GPS technology, for example most smart phones, may also return poor accuracy locates. The algorithms and methods presented here will be applicable to these locates as well. Cell tower locates are derived from location interpolation, which utilizes the fixed location of at least 3 cell towers, combined with the signal strength between each cell tower and a given phone, to interpolate the location of that cell phone. GPS locates are derived from at least 3 satellites at fixed locations around the earth, and uses the time it takes for a signal to travel between a satellite and a given cell phone to determine the distance between that satellite and the cell phone. Measurements corresponding to a plurality of satellites are then used to determine the location of the cell phone.
There exists a need for an improved system and method for providing location information to a subscriber device.